System and method for initiating returns over a network

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides systems and methods for processing return transactions over a network. An embodiment of the invention discloses an online return application that generates an electronic return shipping label that can be delivered to a browser of a customer that wishes to make a return. Also, disclosed is the creation and transmission of label delivery links, which provide for dynamic generation and delivery of shipping labels.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit and priority of pendingProvisional Application entitled System And Method For InitiatingReturns Over A Network having Ser. No. 60/275,861, filed Mar. 14, 2001,which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention is a method and system for providing returnshipping labels to merchants and customers as part of an electronicreturn system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The increased popularity of the World Wide Web has led to anexplosion in catalog and online shopping. The growth in e-commercereflects in part increased purchases from veteran online shoppers,deeper Internet penetration across the country and the increased numberof familiar bricks-and-mortar retailers online.

[0004] Some of the benefits to purchasing products online include theability to avoid crowds, perform quick price comparisons across multiplesellers, and access a wider selection of products. However, there aredrawbacks to purchasing goods through a retailer web site. One drawbackis the inability to inspect an item before making the purchase. Aconsumer that buys a product offline at a traditional retail storeusually has the opportunity to inspect the color, size and quality ofworkmanship of a good before the purchase is made. In contrast, when aconsumer shops online their decision to purchase is based largely on awritten description of the product and/or a photograph of the item. Noopportunity to inspect the product occurs until after the product ispurchased and shipped to the consumer. As a result, many products thatare purchased online are returned.

[0005] The typical return transaction involves a customer contacting amerchant, via email or phone, to inform the merchant that the customerintends to return an item previously purchased from the merchant. Afterapproving the return, the merchant obtains a return shipping label froma commercial carrier, such as the United Parcel Service (UPS), and mailsthe return shipping label to the customer, along with any specialinstructions on how to package the item to be returned. Next, thecustomer repackages the item, affixes the return shipping label to thepackage and drops the package off with the shipper, who delivers it tothe merchant.

[0006] This return process is both time consuming and highly manual. Itusually takes a week or more for the merchant to obtain a returnshipping label from a carrier and have the label mailed to the consumer.In addition, the merchant must have customer service representativesavailable to receive and approve the customer return request, and toinitiate the request to the carrier to have a return shipping labelgenerated. Further, if the label is lost or destroyed in the mailingprocess, additional delays and expense can result as the consumercontacts the merchant and re-initiates the returns process.

[0007] An alternative returns process is sometimes used to avoid some ofthe delays discussed above. In the alternative returns process, themerchant has a return shipping label generated for every product soldand encloses the label with the product when it is sent to the customer.The benefit of the alternative return process is that a customer thatwishes to return an item no longer needs to contact the merchant andalready has the label required to return the good. While this eliminatesmany of the delays inherent in the traditional returns process, themerchant is at a disadvantage. By including a return shipping label whenthe product is sent to the customer, the merchant essentially abrogatesthe right to refuse a return. And because the merchant is not notifiedwhen a customer decides to return an item, the merchant has no idea asto which or how many items are going to be returned, which can lead toinventory management problems. In addition, if the shipping label sentto the consumer is missing, lost or destroyed, the delays associatedwith providing a replacement shipping label return.

[0008] A need therefore exists in the industry for a returns system thateliminates the delays inherent in the traditional returns process yetallows a merchant to retain to have knowledge and control of theprocess. Thus, an unsatisfied need exists for an improved method andsystem for handling product returns that overcomes deficiencies in theprior art, some of which are discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Having thus described the invention in general terms, referencewill now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarilydrawn to scale, and wherein:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of an electronic returnsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a high-level process flow diagram that shows severalembodiments of the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram that illustrates theoperation of an electronic return system in accordance with a firstembodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIGS. 4A-4F are illustrative screen shots of web pages that acustomer uses to navigate a merchant return system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIGS. 5A-5B show a record layout of a return service request inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015]FIG. 6 illustrates a return shipping label and label instructionarea in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 7 shows a record layout of a return service response inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate an electronic return notification inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 9 is a high-level block diagram that illustrates theoperation of an electronic return system in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 10 is a high-level block diagram that illustrates theoperation of an electronic return system in accordance with a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

[0020]FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram that illustrates a method ofhandling undeliverable emails in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The present invention provides systems and methods for processingreturn transactions over a network. An embodiment of the inventiondiscloses an online return application that generates an electronicreturn shipping label that can be delivered to a browser of a customerthat wishes to make a return. Also, disclosed is the creation andtransmission of label delivery links, which provide for dynamicgeneration and delivery of shipping labels.

[0022] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to electronically deliver theshipping label to the customer.

[0023] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to electronically deliver theshipping label to the customer; and wherein further the online returnapplication is configured to store an electronic image of the shippinglabel, and send to the customer a link associated with the storedelectronic image.

[0024] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to electronically deliver theshipping label to the customer; and wherein further the online returnapplication is configured to store an electronic image of the shippinglabel, and send to the merchant a link associated with the storedelectronic image.

[0025] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address.

[0026] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address; and wherein the onlinereturn application is configured to send the label delivery link to themerchant via electronic mail.

[0027] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address and wherein the uniformresource locator of the label delivery link corresponds to a labelgeneration application, the label generation application configured todeliver the shipping label to a browser associated with the customerupon activation of the label delivery link.

[0028] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address and wherein the uniformresource locator of the label delivery link corresponds to a labelgeneration application, the label generation application configured todeliver the shipping label to a browser associated with the customerupon activation of the label delivery link; and wherein further thelabel generation application is a Java application.

[0029] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address and wherein the uniformresource locator of the label delivery link corresponds to a labelgeneration application, the label generation application configured todeliver the shipping label to a browser associated with the customerupon activation of the label delivery link; and wherein further thelabel delivery link includes at least one of a package tracking number,a locality string, a merchant registration identification and a shippinglabel creation date.

[0030] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention anelectronic return shipping system is disclosed that includes a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, the merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with themerchant application; the online return application configured toreceive the return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on the return service request; and wherein the onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address and wherein the uniformresource locator of the label delivery link corresponds to a labelgeneration application, the label generation application configured todeliver the shipping label to a browser associated with the customerupon activation of the label delivery link; wherein further the onlinereturn application is configured to generate an electronic returnnotification that contains both a human-readable area and amachine-readable area.

[0031] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request, wherein the return servicerequest contains shipping information, the shipping informationcomprising an address associated with the customer and an addressassociated with a consignee; assigning a package tracking number to saidreturn transaction; generating the shipping label based at least in parton the shipping information and the package tracking number; andproviding the shipping label to the customer in electronic form.

[0032] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request, wherein the return servicerequest contains shipping information, the shipping informationcomprising an address associated with the customer and an addressassociated with a consignee; assigning a package tracking number to thereturn transaction; generating the shipping label based at least in parton the shipping information and the package tracking number; andproviding the customer with an electronic image of the generatedshipping label.

[0033] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request, wherein the return servicerequest contains shipping information, the shipping informationcomprising an address associated with the customer and an addressassociated with a consignee; assigning a package tracking number to thereturn transaction; generating the shipping label based at least in parton the shipping information and the package tracking number; anddelivering an electronic image of the shipping label to a browserassociated with the customer.

[0034] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request, wherein the return servicerequest contains shipping information, the shipping informationcomprising an address associated with the customer and an addressassociated with a consignee; assigning a package tracking number to thereturn transaction; generating the shipping label based at least in parton the shipping information and the package tracking number; storing anelectronic image of the shipping label; and sending the customer a linkassociated with the stored image.

[0035] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request; generating the shipping labelbased at least in part on the return service request; formatting a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform resource locator address; providing thecustomer with the label delivery link; and delivering the shipping labelto a browser associated with the customer upon activation of the labeldelivery link.

[0036] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request; generating the shipping labelbased at least in part on the return service request; formatting a labeldelivery link that is associated with the shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform resource locator address; providing themerchant with the label delivery link; and delivering the shipping labelto a browser associated with the customer upon activation of the labeldelivery link.

[0037] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention amethod of electronically providing a shipping label to a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant isdisclosed that includes the steps of initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request; generating a shipping labelbased at least in part on the return service request; printing theshipping label at a carrier facility; taking the printed shipping labelfrom the carrier facility to the customer; affixing the shipping labelto a package containing the good to be returned; and delivering thepackage to the merchant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0038] The present invention now will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichpreferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

[0039] Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention willcome to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertainshaving the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoingdescriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

[0040] A. Architecture

[0041]FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram of an electronic return system 10for practicing various aspects of an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the present invention includes a merchantserver 110, a customer 120, a vendor server 130 and a carrier server140, each in communication using a common computer network 100. As usedherein, the term customer 120 includes, without limitation, anindividual or an entity, with or without a personal computer. In thedisclosed embodiment, the common computer network 100 is the Internet.But it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatthe present invention may be implemented in any networked environment.Moreover, and as disclosed in more detail below, some of thecommunications described herein may occur by means other than the commoncomputer network 100.

[0042] As described herein, the customer 120 is the buyer of a good thatwishes to return it. In a preferred embodiment, the merchant 110 is theentity that sold the good to the customer 120 and the vendor 130 is theentity that receives the good that is being returned. In some cases, ofcourse, a merchant may require that goods be returned directly to themerchant, in which case a vendor may not be involved in the returnsprocess. Although the present invention is broad enough to include thissituation, in the disclosed embodiment it will be assumed that amerchant and a vendor are involved in the returns process. Finally,other electronic returns models can, of course, exist that make use ofthe present invention and these are intended to be encompassed by thefollowing disclosure as well.

[0043] In a preferred embodiment, the merchant 110, vendor 130 andcarrier 140 servers are capable of transmitting and receiving data overthe network 100 using standard Internet protocols, including HTTP andHTTPS. Similarly, the customer 120 has a computer that can send andreceive electronic mail and that is equipped with a web browser capableof viewing web pages. As explained below, however, the present inventioncan be implemented even if one or more of these entities are notconnected to the network 100. As a non-limiting example, the electronicreturn system described herein will work if a customer 120 uses a phonerather than a computer to contact a merchant to request a return.

[0044] In addition, the present invention may apply to the situation inwhich a customer buys a good from a physical location, such as amerchant retail store and later decides to return the good. Rather thanreturning to the physical location of the merchant, the customer mayelect to use the present invention to initiate the return.

[0045] Also in a preferred embodiment, an online return application 150and a label generation application 160 reside on the carrier server 140,and a merchant return application 115 resides on the merchant server110. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the artthat one or more of these applications can reside elsewhere. Forexample, a label generation application may reside on a separate serveroperated by the carrier or might exist as a carrier component on themerchant server 110. The operations of the various applications aredescribed in detail below and the present invention is broad enough andintended to encompass embodiments in which the applications reside onthese or other computers.

[0046] B. Operation

[0047] In accordance with the present invention, several embodiments ofa system are herein described that will process a customer's request toreturn a good purchased from a merchant. FIG. 2 is a high-level processflow diagram that illustrates several of these embodiments.

[0048] In each of the herein-described systems, a customer contacts amerchant and requests the return of a good. Upon approval of the returnrequest, the merchant contacts an online return application 150 andprovides the shipping information necessary to generate a returnshipping label. In each of the described embodiments, the ship frominformation is address information associated with the customer. Themerchant may have the ship from information on file or may prompt thecustomer to enter and/or modify the ship from information as part of thereturn transaction. The destination or consignee information of theshipping label may be a merchant address or a vendor address, dependingon where the product is to be returned.

[0049] In the first process flow shown in FIG. 2, the carrier generatesa label in Step 1 and returns the label to the merchant in Step 2. Asdescribed in greater detail below, the shipping label that is generatedand transmitted to the merchant may be formatted via GraphicsInterchange Format (GIF), Eltron Programming Language (EPL2), portabledocument format (PDF) or via other formats known in the art. Themerchant then has the option of presenting the label image to thecustomer's browser (Step 3) or to store the label on the merchant serverand provide the customer with a hyper-text link to the label via email(Steps 4 and 5).

[0050] Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by thesecond process flow of FIG. 2. In this process flow, instead oftransmitting a label image, the carrier generates a label delivery linkto the carrier server. In this embodiment, the information necessary togenerate a shipping label is embedded in the link. When the labeldelivery link is activated, either by the merchant or customer, a callis made to the label generation servlet and a shipping label isdynamically generated and delivered to the customer browser.

[0051] In Step 10, the carrier generates a label delivery link inresponse to a return request. If the merchant decides to have the labeldelivery link sent directly to the customer, the process proceeds toStep 11 and the carrier sends an email containing the label link to thecustomer. In Step 12, the customer activates the label delivery link,which causes a shipping label to be generated and delivered to thecustomer's browser. Alternatively, the merchant can have the processproceed to Step 13 where the label delivery link is sent to themerchant. At that point, the merchant can either activate the label linkand have the shipping label delivered to the customer browser (Step 14),or the merchant can forward the label delivery link to the customer viaemail and permit the customer to activate the link (Steps 15 and 16).

[0052] In the final process flow shown in FIG. 2, the online returnapplication 150 determines the carrier site closest to the customer andprints the generated shipping label at the local carrier site (Step 20).The process then can proceed to Step 21 wherein a carrier driver takesthe label to the customer, affixes the label to the package and acceptsthe package. Alternatively, the carrier will mail the label to thecustomer and have the customer assume responsibility for affixing thelabel and delivering the labeled package to a carrier drop off location.

[0053] The following paragraphs describe in greater detail the variousembodiments summarized above.

[0054]FIG. 3 is a high-level diagram that illustrates a first method bywhich an online return application 150 processes a return request from acustomer 120. The process starts in Step 200 with a customer 120contacting a merchant and notifying the merchant that the customerwishes to return a good that the customer previously purchased. Thefollowing paragraphs describe a situation in which a customer 120contacts the merchant through a merchant website. But it will be readilyapparent that a customer 120 might request a return over the telephonethrough a customer service representative or by phoning the merchantdirectly. These and other methods by which a customer 120 might submit areturn request are encompassed by this invention.

[0055] FIGS. 4A-4F illustrate the type of web pages that a merchantmight use to permit a user to submit a return request. The term user isused rather than customer to expressly include the situation in which acustomer 120 communicates with a customer service representative thatuses a merchant website to enter the customer's return request.

[0056]FIG. 4A shows a merchant web page that lists the prior orders 200that a customer 120 has placed with the merchant along with the orderdate 205, total 210 and status 215 associated with each order 200. Foreach order 200, the customer 120 is given the option of clicking on ahyperlink labeled “Track” 220 to track an order shipment or “Return” 225to initiate the process of requesting a return. Additional options onthe web page of FIG. 4A include links to change billing 230 and shippingaddress 235 information.

[0057] In this example, if the customer 120 clicks the return link 225corresponding to order number 815499 the merchant server 110 links to aweb page such as that shown in FIG. 4B. This web page lists the goodsthat comprise order 815499 and includes a stockkeeping unit (SKU) number250, a good description 255, the quantity 260 of a particular goodpurchased in the order and a price 265 paid for the good. There are twogoods listed in FIG. 3B: a 56K V90 KFLEX Dual Mode PCI D/F/V ModemMotorola Chip (“Motorola chip”) and a 50X Reader EIDE 650A 128k 85 ms6000 kb/sec Vert Mnt Capb (“50×reader”). In this example, a returnmerchandise authorization (RMA) #319910 has already been issued for theMotorola chip. This may be because the customer 120 previously submitteda return request for the Motorola chip or that the merchant has a policyto automatically grant return requests associated with the chip. As tothe 50×reader, the customer 120 is given the option of checking a checkbox 270 to request a return of that item.

[0058] After checking the check box 270 associated with the 50×readerand clicking on the Returned Check Item(s) box 275, the customer 120proceeds to FIG. 4C. With reference to FIGS. 4C-4E, the customer 120 isnext prompted for information about the good being returned. Thisinformation may for example aid the merchant in determining whether toauthorize the return and/or to determine whether the good should bereturned to the merchant or to the vendor that supplied the good. Inthis example, the customer 120 is prompted to supply the reason for thereturn 280 (FIG. 4C), whether the package has been opened 285 (FIG. 4D)and whether the customer 120 seeks a credit or a replacement 290 (FIG.4E). These steps are presented for illustrative purposes only and itshould be readily apparent that different merchants will use differentcriteria to determine whether a good may be returned and under whatconditions. Moreover, a merchant may use an automatic returns processlike the one described herein or may alternatively review each return onan individual basis.

[0059] Upon entering the requested information, the customer 120 clicksthe Request an RMA# button 295 and the process proceeds to FIG. 4F. Inthis example, the merchant has authorized the return and assigned a RMAnumber of 323530 to the 50×reader. In an alternative embodiment, themerchant does not authorize returns immediately and the customer 120receives a web page with a message indicating that the return requestwill be processed. Once the merchant approves the return request andassigns a RMA number to the transaction, a shipping label link 300 issent to the customer 120. In one embodiment, the merchant presents ashipping label in the customer browser. In a preferred embodiment, themerchant emails a label delivery link 300 to the customer 120 and thecustomer 120 presents the shipping label to the customer browser byactivating the link. Additional embodiments and methods of presenting ashipping label to a customer are intended to be encompassed by thepresent invention, some of which are discussed more fully herein.

[0060] When the customer 120 clicks on the label delivery link 300, thecustomer's return request is sent from the merchant website to amerchant return application 115. In a preferred embodiment, the merchantreturn application 115 resides on the same server as the merchantwebsite. But it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart that a merchant return application may reside on a separate serveror on a stand-alone device. The merchant return application 115 confirmsthat the customer 120 has provided the necessary returns information,validates the data provided and generates a return service request 305.The return service request 305 is then sent to the merchant server 110where it is forwarded to the carrier server 140 via the common computernetwork 100.

[0061] In a preferred embodiment, the return service request 305 isformatted as an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file. XML is well knownto one of ordinary skill in the art as an open standard for definingmarkup languages to represent structured information over the Internet.In general, XML describes a class of data objects called XML documentsand partially describes the behavior of computer programs that processthem. The use of XML in connection with the present invention is forillustrative purposes only and it will be readily apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be implementedusing other data formats.

[0062]FIGS. 5A and 5B show a typical XML return service request 305. Inthis non-limiting example, a return service request 305 includes accessrequest information such as the merchant's access license number 310,userid 315 and password 320, label specification information 322 such asa print method 325, stock size 330, HTTP user agent 332, and imageformat 335, shipment information 337 such as shipper 340 (the merchant),destination or ship to 345 (the vendor) and origination or ship from 350(the customer 120) data, return service 351, service 352, paymentinformation 355 and package information 360. In a preferred embodiment,the package information 360 includes a vendor email address 365 and anundeliverable email address 370, both of which are discussed in greaterdetail below.

[0063] Returning to the embodiment of FIG. 3, in Step 210 the onlinereturn application 150 receives the return service request 305 createdby the merchant return application 115 and transmitted by the merchantserver 110. In a preferred embodiment, the online return application 115resides on the carrier server 140. But it will be readily apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that the online return application 115may reside on a separate server or on a stand-alone device. Uponreceipt, the online return application 150 verifies that the validity ofthe data stored in the return service request 305 and assigns a packagetracking number 375 to the return transaction. In a preferredembodiment, when a package tracking number 375 is assigned, the shippinginformation related to the return transaction is stored in a packagetracking database 380. Later, when the package is shipped, the partiesto the transaction can track the progress of the package through thecarrier system using the package tracking number 375. In a preferredembodiment, the online return application 150 does not itself assign apackage tracking number 375, but communicates with another carrierapplication that assigns package tracking numbers 375 and trackspackages shipped within the carrier system.

[0064] In Step 215, the online return application 150 forwards thereturn service request 305 to a label generation application 160. In apreferred embodiment, the online return application 150 sends the labelgeneration application 160 only the shipping and label information thatis required to generate a package label. The online return application150 thus includes the additional functionality of extracting theshipping and label information from the return service request 305 andreformatting the information into a file that is inputted into the labelgeneration application 160. The label generation application 160 mayreside on the same server as the online return application 150 or mayreside on another server or on a stand-alone device.

[0065] In Step 220, the label generation application 160 generates areturn shipping label 400 from the shipping and label information, andtransmits the return shipping label 400 back to the online returnapplication 150. The process of generating a return shipping label 400is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art and therefore, is notdescribed in detail herein.

[0066]FIG. 6 illustrates a return shipping label 400 in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the returnshipping label 400 consists of two portions: a label area 405 and a textarea 410. The label area 405 includes an origination shipping address415, a destination shipping address 420, Maxicode™ 425, carrier servicelevel 427, package weight 430, post office code 435, post office barcode 440, package tracking number 375, carrier bar code 450, billingcode 455, merchandise description 460, service identification 465, andRMA number 470. The text area 410 includes instructions as to how toprint and affix the label 475, shipping instructions 480, and a drop-offlocation link 485. In one embodiment, the drop-off location link 485 isa link that includes the zip code of the origination shipping addressembedded in the URL address. When the link is activated, the userreceives a web page that lists the carrier drop-off locations that areclosest to the origination shipping address. Alternative embodiments ofthe return shipping label 400 are also well-known in the art and areencompassed by the present invention, and may include such additionalfeatures as packing instructions, advertisements or a link to a merchantor vendor web site. Additional links may be added to allow a customer toprovide feedback or complaints.

[0067] Returning to FIG. 3, in Step 225 the online return application150 transmits the return shipping label 400 to the merchant server 110accompanied by a return service response 500. The return shipping label400 may be transmitted as a GIF, EPL2, or PDF file or via other formatsthat are well known in the art for transmitting an image. In oneembodiment, the return service response 500 is formatted as XMLformatted data, but could readily be formatted using other formats knownin the art. FIG. 7 illustrates a typical XML return service response 500that a merchant might receive in Step 225. In this embodiment, thereturn service response 500 includes a response section 505 with fieldsfor transaction reference 510 and response status code 515. Thetransaction reference 510 is a field for caller data. In a preferredembodiment, the transaction reference 510 allows the customer to addinformation to tie the response to the original return request. Theresponse status code 515 notifies the merchant if an error occurredduring the processing of the XML return service request. The XML returnservice response 500 also includes a shipment results section 520, abilling weight section 525, a shipment identification number 530 and apackage tracking section 535. In one embodiment, the shipmentidentification number 530 is used to support multi-piece packageshipments. In many cases, the package tracking number 375 will be usedas the shipment identification number 530. In multi-piece shipments, theshipment identification number 530 is the package tracking number 375 ofthe first package.

[0068] Returning again to FIG. 3, in Step 230 the merchant provides thereturn shipping label 400 to the customer 120. In a preferredembodiment, the foregoing process of generating a return service request305 and generating a return shipping label 400 is near instantaneous.Thus, an electronic image of the return shipping label 400 is deliveredto the customer's browser in response to the customer's activation ofthe shipping link label 300 while the customer is still on the merchantwebsite. Alternatively, the steps of generating and processing a returnservice request 305 may not be instantaneous and the merchant mayprovide the customer 120 with an electronic image of a return shippinglabel 400 at a later time. Delivery of the return shipping label 400from the merchant to the customer 120 can occur via email, the postalsystem or by other methods discussed herein. In one embodiment, themerchant or the carrier may store the electronic image of the returnshipping label 400 on one of the merchant server 110 and carrier server140 and the merchant will send an email to the customer 120 thatcontains a link to the label image. Alternatively, a return shippinglabel 400 may be printed by a carrier and hand-delivered by a driver tothe customer 120. Additional methods of providing an electronic image ofa return shipping label 400 to a customer 120 exist are known in the artand are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

[0069] In Step 235, the online return application 150 sends anelectronic return notification 550 to the vendor server 130 indicatingthat a return service request 305 has been processed and that a customer120 intends to ship a returned good to the vendor. In a preferredembodiment, an electronic return notification 550 is generated for everyreturn service request 305 processed by the online return application150. In an alternative embodiment, an electronic return notification 550is automatically generated whenever the destination shipping address 420is different from the merchant's shipping address. In still anotherembodiment, an electronic return notification is generated whenever themerchant includes a vendor email address 365 in the return servicerequest 305.

[0070]FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an electronic return notification 550in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, the electronic return notification 550 consists of twoportions: a human-readable area 555 (FIG. 8A) and a machine-readablearea 560 (FIG. 8B). The human-readable area 555 includes an originationshipping address 415, destination shipping address 420, package trackingnumber 375, merchandise description 460, UPS service level 427, packageweight 430 and RMA number 470. In this manner, the human-readable area555 of the electronic return notification 550 provides returnstransaction information to vendors that rely on individuals rather thanmachines to track incoming packages and returns.

[0071]FIG. 8B illustrates the machine-readable area 560 of an electronicreturn notification 550 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the machine-readable area 560 isformatted as an XML document, but it will be readily apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art that other data formats exist and may be usedwith the present invention. The machine-readable area 560 also containsthe returns transaction information, but allows a vendor with anautomated shipping system to process the electronic return notification550 without requiring a manual review of the email text. In a preferredembodiment, the machine-readable area 560 includes shipper information340, an origination shipping address 415, a destination shipping address420, a merchandise description 460, package weight 430, package trackingnumber 375 and RMA number 470. Also in a preferred embodiment, themachine-readable area 560 is appended to the human-readable area 555 andcomprises an electronic mail. But it will be readily apparent thateither or both sections of the electronic return notification 550 can betransmitted separately and by means other than email. Thus, in anillustrative alternate embodiment, in Step 235 a vendor might receive afacsimile of just the human-readable area 555 of the electronic returnnotification 550.

[0072]FIG. 9 is a high-level diagram that illustrates a second method bywhich an online return application 150 processes a return request. Theprocess starts in Step 700 with a customer 120 contacting a merchant andnotifying the merchant that the customer wishes to return a good thatthe customer 120 previously purchased. This notification may or may notoccur electronically but in a preferred embodiment occurs via a merchantweb site that resides on the merchant server 110.

[0073] In Step 705, the merchant application 115 processes the returnrequest and generates a return service request 305, which is transmittedto the label generation application 150. In a preferred embodiment, thereturn service request 305 is formatted as an XML document but otherformats are known in the art and may be used with the present invention.Upon receipt of the return service request 305, the online returnapplication 150 verifies the validity of the transmitted data andassigns a package tracking number 375 to the return request. In analternative embodiment, the online return application 150 does notitself assign a package tracking number 375 to the return transaction,but communicates with another carrier application that assigns packagetracking numbers and tracks packages shipped within the carrier system.

[0074] In Step 710, the online return application 150 forwards thereturn service request 305 to a label generation application 160. In analternative embodiment, the online return application 160 extracts theshipping and package label information from the return service request305 and reformats the information before it is sent to the labelgeneration application 160.

[0075] In Step 715, the label generation application 160 generates areturn shipping label 400 from the shipping and package labelinformation, and transmits the return shipping label 400 back to theonline return application 150.

[0076] In Step 720, the online return application 150 sends a returnservice confirmation 600 to the merchant server 140. In a preferredembodiment the return service confirmation 600 is formatted as an XMLdocument, but it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that other data formats exist and may be used with the presentinvention. In one embodiment, the information contained in the returnservice confirmation 600 is the same as that in the electronic returnverification 550 (see FIG. 8b). In alternative embodiments, the returnservice confirmation 600 may include a link to the return shipping label400 or an encoded label delivery link 625 (discussed below).

[0077] In Step 725, the online return application 150 sends anelectronic return notification 550 to the vendor server 130 indicatingthat a return service request 305 has been processed and that a customer120 intends to ship a returned good to the vendor. In a preferredembodiment, the electronic return notification 550 has amachine-readable area 560 appended to the human-readable area 560 toallow automatic input into a vendor shipping system without the need forhuman intervention. In alternative embodiments, the returned good isshipped directly to the merchant and no electronic return notification550 is generated as no vendor is involved. Alternatively, only themachine-readable area 560 of the electronic return notification 550 issupplied to the vendor.

[0078] In Step 730, the online return application 150 generates andsends a return service email 630 to the customer 120. In one embodiment,the return service email 630 includes a link to an image file of areturn service label 400. The return service email 630 can also includean encoded label delivery link 625. In a preferred embodiment, theonline return application 150 generates the encoded label delivery link625, which is a hypertext link to a uniform resource locator (URL) withadditional information appended that identifies the return shippinglabel 400 generated for the return service request 305. In a preferredembodiment of the delivery link 625 includes a link to a URL. But itwill be readily apparent that the delivery link 625 may include anyencoded or encrypted string of characters which will cause the onlinereturn application or other application in the return services system torespond with an image of the desired shipping label. Moreover, theshipping label delivered to the customer browser may be returned from astorage location or generated dynamically at the time of activation ofthe link 625.

[0079] In a preferred embodiment, the label delivery link 625 whenactivated links to the URL of a label generation servlet 650. Servletsare well known in the art as Java applications that run in a web serveror application server and provide server-side processing. Because theyare written in Java, servlets are portable between servers and operatingsystems. The servlet programming interface (Java Servlet API) is astandard part of the Java 2 platform, enterprise edition (J2EE). If aWeb server, such as Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS), doesnot run servlets natively, a third-party servlet plug-in can beinstalled to add the runtime support.

[0080] The use of a Java servlet in this embodiment is for illustrativepurposes only. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognizethat there are many methods of invoking the dynamic generation orrecovery of the shipping label. For example, the target of the URL couldbe an application written in C, C++, or any other computer languageinvoked through a common gateway interface or via other means.

[0081] In an alternative embodiment, the label delivery link 625 whenactivated links to the URL of the online generation application 150,which establishes the link to a label generation servlet 650.

[0082] In a preferred embodiment, the information appended to the URL inthe label delivery link 625 to identify a return service label 400includes a package tracking number 375, a locality string 635, amerchant registration identification 640 and, optionally, a returnservice label creation date 630. Because this information identifies areturn service label 400 it contains potentially sensitive shippinginformation; therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the information isencrypted to prevent unauthorized access as the return service email 630passes through a computer network 100 such as the Internet. In thepreferred embodiment, the information string appended to the labeldelivery link 625 is encrypted using triple data encryption standard(DES) techniques and is encoded.

[0083] In Step 735, the customer 120 receives the return service email800 and activates the label generation servlet 650 by clicking on thelabel delivery link 625. The foregoing steps of processing a returnservice request 305 may be near instantaneous, or there may be a delaybetween the customer's request to make a return and the transmittal of areturn service email 800 containing a label delivery link 625. Uponactivation of the label delivery link 625, the information string isdecoded and decrypted. In one embodiment, the online return application150 receives the information string and performs the decoding anddecryption processes. In an alternative embodiment, the label generationservlet 650 performs the decoding and decryption processes.

[0084] The online return application 150 extracts the package trackingnumber 375 and merchant registration identification 640 from thedecrypted and decoded information string. This information is thencompared against a return label database 670 to retrieve the shippinginformation that is necessary to regenerate the requested returnshipping label 400. In one embodiment, a new record is added to thereturn label database 670 every time that a return shipping label 400 isgenerated. In another embodiment, the return label database 670 ispopulated only when a customer 120, merchant or vendor has requestedthat a return shipping label 400 be saved for possible recovery and/orregeneration. In yet another embodiment, the shipping information storedon the return label database 670 is kept for a finite period and iserased or migrated after the expiration of a predetermined period oroccurrence of a predetermined condition.

[0085] In Step 740, the online return application 150 generates a returnshipping label 400 using the shipping information obtained from thereturn label database 670 and transmits the return shipping label 400 tothe customer 120. In one embodiment, a copy of the return shipping label400 associated with the decoded and decrypted package tracking number375 and merchant registration identification 640 is stored on the returnlabel database 670. In another embodiment, a copy of the return shippinglabel 400 is not stored on the return label database 670 and the onlinereturn application 150 sends the associated shipping information to thelabel generation application 160 to have the return shipping label 400generated.

[0086] In one embodiment, a return shipping label 400 and/or theshipping information necessary to regenerate a return shipping label 400is indexed by the package tracking number 375 and merchant registrationidentification 640. In an effort to obtain additional security, analternative embodiment may also require a return service label creationdate 630 to regenerate a return service label 400. In such anembodiment, the return service label creation date 630 may be includedin the encrypted and encoded information string transmitted to theonline return application 150 upon activation of the label delivery link625.

[0087] Label recovery is also available in the present invention. Labelrecovery exists to cover the contingency of a customer being unable toprint a label. In such case, the merchant has the ability to transmit alabel recovery request to the online return application and receiveanother copy of the return shipping label generated for the originalreturn service request. For example, upon receipt of a recovery request,another copy of the electronic image of a return shipping label may beprovided to the merchant or, alternatively, the label delivery linkassociated with the original return request may be regenerated andre-transmitted.

[0088]FIG. 10 is a high-level diagram that illustrates a second methodby which an online return application 150 processes a return request.The process starts in Step 800 with a customer 120 contacting a merchantand notifying the merchant that the customer wishes to return a goodthat the customer 120 previously purchased. This notification may or maynot occur electronically but in a preferred embodiment occurs via amerchant web site that resides on the merchant server 110.

[0089] In Step 805, the merchant application 115 processes the returnrequest and generates a return service request 305, which is transmittedto the label generation application 150. In a preferred embodiment, thereturn service request 305 is formatted as an XML document but otherformats are known in the art and may be used with the present invention.Upon receipt of the return service request 305, the online returnapplication 150 verifies the validity of the transmitted data andassigns a package tracking number 375 to the return request. In analternative embodiment, the online return application 150 does notitself assign a package tracking number 375 to the return transaction,but communicates with another carrier application that assigns packagetracking numbers and tracks packages shipped within the carrier system.

[0090] In Step 810, the online return application 150 forwards thereturn service request 305 to a label generation application 160.Alternatively, the online return application 150 does not send thereturn service request 305 to the label generation application 160 andinstead extracts and sends just that shipping and package labelinformation that is required to generate a return shipping label 400. InStep 815, the label generation application 160 generates a returnshipping label 400 from the shipping and package label information, andtransmits the return shipping label 400 back to the online returnapplication 150.

[0091] In Step 820, the online return application 150 sends a returnservice confirmation 600 to the merchant server 140. In a preferredembodiment the return service confirmation 700 is formatted as an XMLdocument, but it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that other data formats exist and may be used with the presentinvention. Also, in a preferred embodiment, the return serviceconfirmation 600 includes an image file for the return shipping label400. In alternative embodiments, the return service confirmation 600includes a link to the return shipping label 400 or, if security is anecessary or desired, to an encoded label delivery link 625.

[0092] In Step 825, the online return application 150 sends anelectronic return notification 550 to the vendor server 130 indicatingthat a return service request 305 has been processed and that a customer120 intends to ship a returned good to the vendor. In a preferredembodiment, the electronic return notification 550 has amachine-readable area 560 appended to the human-readable area 560 toallow automatic input into a vendor shipping system without the need forhuman intervention. In alternative embodiments, the returned good isshipped directly to the merchant and no electronic return notification550 is generated as no vendor is involved.

[0093] In Step 830, the online return application 150 accesses a carrierfacility database 690 using the origination shipping address 415 todetermine which local carrier facility 695 is responsible for deliveriesto and from the customer's address. The carrier facility database in apreferred embodiment resides on a carrier server 140, but it will bereadily apparent that carrier facility information can be stored on awide variety of computers and/or other electronic devices known in theart. In a preferred embodiment, the online return application 150 thentransmits an image of the return shipping label 400 to a printer locatedat the local carrier facility 695 where the return shipping label 400 isprinted. In an alternative embodiment, the online return applicationsends the return shipping label 400 to a computer or server at the localcarrier facility 695 where an operator prints the return shipping label400.

[0094] In Step 835, a driver from the local carrier facility 695 picksup the return shipping label 400 and takes it to the originationshipping address 415, which in a preferred embodiment is the customer'saddress. The driver then picks up the good that is being returned fromthe customer 120, affixes the return shipping label 400 to the packageand places it in the carrier shipping system where it is ultimatelydelivered to the destination shipping address 420.

[0095] If the customer 120 is not home when the driver attempts to pickup the package, the driver may leave the return shipping label 400 forthe customer 120 or may attempt to pick up the package at a later date.In a preferred embodiment, the carrier service level 427 determineswhich action a driver takes if the customer 120 is not home for the pickup attempt. In one embodiment, a carrier offers a single attempt servicein which the driver makes one attempt to pick up the package. In thesingle attempt service, the driver leaves the return shipping label 400at the customer's residence if the customer 120 is not home when thepick up attempt is made. The customer 120 thus is required to affix thereturn shipping label 400 to the package and place the package in thecarrier shipping system by delivering it to a carrier drop-off location.In alternative embodiments, other carrier service levels 427 areavailable in which the driver will return on multiple occasions to tryto pick up the package. In the preferred embodiment, a carrier offerssingle attempt and three attempt carrier service levels 427 though otherlevels of service can be offered in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0096] Another aspect of the present invention is a system and methodfor handling undelivered email. Invalid email addresses are a recurringproblem in any system that relies upon communication through email andthe problems are exacerbated in automated systems due to the lack ofhuman involvement. In many cases, an invalid email address is a resultof a simple typographical error, but invalid addresses can occur fromoutdated Internet accounts or any of a host of other reasons that arewell known in the art.

[0097] In the present invention, communication between the customer 120,merchant server 110, carrier server 140 and vendor server can occur viaemail. For example, in a preferred embodiment a carrier relies upon thevendor email address 365 provided by the merchant in the return servicerequest 305 to transmit an electronic return notification 550 to thevendor server 130. If the vendor email address 365 provided by themerchant is invalid or otherwise undeliverable, there is a possibilitythat the vendor server 130 will not receive the electronic returnnotification 550. At a minimum, human intervention by the carrier and/orthe merchant may be required to address the problem.

[0098]FIG. 11 is a high-level block diagram of a method of handlingundeliverable emails in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In Step 900, the online return application 150 receives areturn service request 305 from a merchant that includes a vendor emailaddress 365. In a preferred embodiment, the return service request 305also includes a bounce email address 370. The bounce email address 370may be the merchant's email address, the vendor's email address or acustomer service or other email address of a person or persons that areprepared to handle undelivered emails.

[0099] In Step 910, the online return application 150 generates andsends an electronic return notification 550. In a preferred embodiment,the electronic return notification 550 includes an encrypted XMLdocument attached to the email that includes the bounce email address370. In a preferred embodiment, the XML document is encrypted usingtriple data encryption standard (DES) techniques, but other encryptiontechniques are well known in the art and can be used with the presentinvention.

[0100] If the electronic return notification 550 is returned asundeliverable (Step 920), the online return application 150 retrievesthe XML attachment from the undelivered email and forwards theelectronic return notification 550 to the bounce email address 370. Theonline return application 150 forwards the undelivered email to themerchant server 110 under the assumption that the merchant or otherentity associated with the bounce email address 370 is equipped toaddress the issue that caused the electronic return notification 550 notto be delivered. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognizethat the undelivered email may also be forwarded to a customer 120, amerchant return application 115 or to any other person or entity thathas a valid email address.

[0101] The electronic return system 10, which comprises an orderedlisting of selectable services can be embodied in any computer-readablemedium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system,processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch theinstructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or deviceand execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a“computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablemedium would include the following: an electrical connection(electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette(magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory(ROM) (magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM orFlash memory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that thecomputer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronicallycaptured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitablemanner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

[0102] Further, any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts shouldbe understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of codewhich include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the preferredembodiment of the present invention in which functions may be executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the artof the present invention.

[0103] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments ofthe present invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments” aremerely possible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for aclear understanding of the principles of the invention. Any variationsand modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention without departing substantially from the spirit of theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure andpresent invention and protected by the following claims.

[0104] In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted thatit will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations andmodifications can be made to the preferred embodiment withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.Also, such variations and modifications are intended to be includedherein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in theappended claims. Further, in the claims hereafter, the structures,materials, acts and equivalents of all means or step-plus functionelements are intended to include any structure, materials or acts forperforming their cited functions.

That which is claimed:
 1. A method of electronically providing ashipping label to a customer that wishes to return a good that waspreviously purchased from a merchant, said method comprising the stepsof: initiating a return transaction upon receipt of a return servicerequest, wherein said return service request contains shippinginformation, said shipping information comprising an address associatedwith said customer and an address associated with a consignee; assigninga package tracking number to said return transaction; generating saidshipping label based at least in part on said shipping information andsaid package tracking number; and providing said shipping label to saidcustomer in electronic form.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidreturn transaction is initiated upon receipt of a return service requestfrom said merchant.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said returntransaction is initiated upon receipt of a return service request fromsaid customer.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said return transactionis initiated upon receipt of a return service request from a vendor thatsupplied the merchant with said good to be returned.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said consignee is said merchant.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein said consignee is a vendor that supplied the merchant withsaid good to be returned.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofproviding said shipping label to said customer in electronic form,comprises providing said customer with an electronic image of saidgenerated shipping label.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofproviding said shipping label to said customer in electronic form,comprises providing said customer with an electronic image of saidshipping label formatted as a graphics interchange format file.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of providing said shipping label tosaid customer in electronic form, comprises providing said customer withan electronic image of said shipping label formatted as a eltronprogramming language file.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the stepof providing said shipping label to said customer in electronic form,comprises delivering an electronic image of said shipping label to abrowser associated with said customer.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of providing said shipping label to said customer inelectronic form, comprises the steps of: storing an electronic image ofsaid shipping label, and sending to said customer a link associated withsaid stored electronic image.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein saidelectronic image of said shipping label is stored on a carrier server.13. The method of claim 11, wherein said electronic image of saidshipping label is stored on a merchant server.
 14. The method of claim1, wherein said return service request is formatted as an extensiblemarkup language file.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising thestep of updating a package tracking database with said package trackingnumber assigned to said return transaction.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of generating a return service response inresponse to the return service request, said return service responseincluding a transaction reference identifier and a response status code.17. A method of electronically providing a shipping label to a customerto return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant, saidmethod comprising the steps of: initiating a return transaction uponreceipt of a return service request; generating said shipping labelbased at least in part on said return service request; formatting alabel delivery link that is associated with said shipping label andincludes a hypertext link to a uniform resource locator address;providing said customer with said label delivery link; and deliveringsaid shipping label to a browser associated with said customer uponactivation of said label delivery link.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein said return transaction is initiated upon receipt of a returnservice request from said merchant.
 19. The method of claim 17, whereinsaid return transaction is initiated upon receipt of a return servicerequest from said customer.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein saidreturn transaction is initiated upon receipt of a return service requestfrom a vendor that supplied the merchant with said good to be returned.21. The method of claim 17, wherein said uniform resource locator ofsaid label delivery link corresponds to a label generation application.22. The method of claim 17, wherein said uniform resource locator ofsaid label delivery link corresponds to a label generation servlet. 23.The method of claim 17, wherein said uniform resource locator of saidlabel delivery link corresponds to a Java application.
 24. The method ofclaim 17, wherein said label delivery link includes at least one of apackage tracking number, a locality string, a merchant registrationidentification and a shipping label creation date.
 25. The method ofclaim 17, wherein at least part of said label delivery link isencrypted.
 26. The method of claim 17, wherein at least part of saidlabel delivery link is encrypted using triple data encryption standardtechniques.
 27. The method of claim 17, wherein at least part of saidlabel delivery link is encoded.
 28. The method of claim 17, wherein atleast part of said label delivery link is encrypted and encoded.
 29. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the step of providing said customer with alabel delivery link comprises sending said label delivery link to saidcustomer via electronic mail.
 30. A method of electronically providing ashipping label to a customer to return a good that was previouslypurchased from a merchant, said method comprising the steps of:initiating a return transaction upon receipt of a return servicerequest; generating said shipping label based at least in part on saidreturn service request; formatting a label delivery link that isassociated with said shipping label and includes a hypertext link to auniform resource locator address; providing said merchant with saidlabel delivery link; and delivering said shipping label to a browserassociated with said customer upon activation of said label deliverylink.
 31. A method of processing a return request from a customer thatwishes to return a good that was previously purchased from a merchant,said method comprising the steps of: initiating a return transactionupon receipt of a return service request; generating a shipping labelbased at least in part on said return service request; printing saidshipping label at a carrier facility; taking said printed shipping labelfrom said carrier facility to said customer; affixing said shippinglabel to a package containing said good to be returned; and deliveringsaid package to said merchant.
 32. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising the steps of: assigning a package tracking number to saidreturn transaction, and including said package tracking number on saidshipping label.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of printingsaid shipping label at a carrier facility, comprises the steps of:determining which carrier facility has responsibility for package pickups and deliveries at a location of said customer; and sending saidshipping label to a printer at said responsible carrier facility.
 34. Anelectronic return shipping system, comprising: a merchant applicationresiding on a merchant computer, said merchant application configured togenerate a return service request in response to a request from acustomer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant; anonline return application in electronic communication with said merchantapplication; said online return application configured to receive saidreturn service request and generate a shipping label based at least inpart on said return service request; and wherein said online returnapplication is further configured to electronically deliver saidshipping label to said customer.
 35. The system of claim 34, whereinsaid merchant application and said online return application areconfigured to communicate electronically over a network.
 36. The systemof claim 34, wherein said merchant application is configured to sendsaid return service request to said online return application over theInternet.
 37. The system of claim 34, wherein said merchant applicationis configured to send said return service request to said online returnapplication over the World Wide Web.
 38. The system of claim 34, whereinsaid online return application is configured to generate said shippinglabel as a graphics interchange format file.
 39. The system of claim 34,wherein said online return application is configured to generate saidshipping label as an eltron programming language file.
 40. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said online return application is configured to sendan electronic image of said shipping label to said merchant computer viaelectronic mail.
 41. The system of claim 34, wherein said online returnapplication is configured to send an electronic image of said shippinglabel to a customer computer via electronic email.
 42. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said online return application is configured todeliver an electronic image of said shipping label to a browserassociated with said customer.
 43. The system of claim 34, wherein saidmerchant application is configured to generate said return servicerequest as an extensible markup language document.
 44. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said online application is configured to assign apackage tracking number to said return service request, and include saidpackage tracking number on said shipping label.
 45. The system of claim34, wherein said online return application is configured to store anelectronic image of said shipping label, and send to said customer alink associated with said stored electronic image.
 46. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said online return application is configured to storean electronic image of said shipping label, and send to said merchant alink associated with said stored electronic image.
 47. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said merchant application is configured to store anelectronic image of said shipping label received from said online returnapplication, and send to said customer a link associated with saidstored electronic image.
 48. The system of claim 34, wherein said onlineapplication is further configured to generate a return service responsein response to said return service request, said return service responseincluding a transaction reference identifier and a response status code.49. An electronic return shipping system, comprising: a merchantapplication residing on a merchant computer, said merchant applicationconfigured to generate a return service request in response to a requestfrom a customer to return a good previously purchased from a merchant;an online return application in electronic communication with saidmerchant application; said online return application configured toreceive said return service request and generate a shipping label basedat least in part on said return service request; and wherein said onlinereturn application is further configured to format and send a labeldelivery link that is associated with said shipping label and includes ahypertext link to a uniform locator address.
 50. The system of claim 49,wherein said merchant application is configured to generate said returnservice request as an extensible markup language document.
 51. Thesystem of claim 49, wherein said online application is configured toobtain a package tracking number for said return service request andinclude said package tracking number on said shipping label.
 52. Thesystem of claim 49, wherein said online return application is configuredto send said label delivery link to said merchant via electronic mail.53. The system of claim 49, wherein said online return application isconfigured to send said label delivery link to said customer viaelectronic mail.
 54. The system of claim 49, wherein said uniformresource locator of said label delivery link corresponds to a labelgeneration application, said label generation application configured todeliver said shipping label to a browser associated with said customerupon activation of said label delivery link.
 55. The system of claim 54,wherein said label generation application is a Java application.
 56. Thesystem of claim 49, wherein said label delivery link includes at leastone of a package tracking number, a locality string, a merchantregistration identification and a shipping label creation date.
 57. Thesystem of claim 49, wherein said online return application is configuredto encrypt at least a portion of said label delivery link.
 58. Thesystem of claim 49, wherein said online return application is configuredto encode at least a portion of said label delivery link.
 59. The systemof claim 49, wherein said online return application is configured togenerate an electronic return notification.
 60. The system of claim 59,wherein said electronic return notification comprises a human-readableportion and a machine-readable portion.
 61. The system of claim 60,wherein said online return application is configured to send saidelectronic return notification to said merchant via an electronic mail.62. The system of claim 60, wherein said online return application isconfigured to send said electronic return notification to a vendor thatsupplied the merchant with said good to be returned via electronic mail.63. The system of claim 62, wherein said online return application isconfigured to add a vendor email address and a bounce email address tosaid electronic mail, and wherein said online return application isfurther configured to forward said electronic mail to said bounce emailaddress upon receipt of a notification that said electronic mail couldnot be delivered to said vendor email address.
 64. The system of claim63, wherein said bounce email address is an address associated with saidmerchant.